It's time for Google to make its own hardware

[Commentary] Nexus phones are meant to present the latest versions of Android, in pure form, unadulterated by the software overlays and bloatware apps added by the hundreds of Android phone makers. They also give Google a chance to showcase its own latest apps and services, which are sometimes missing entirely from Android phones, especially in emerging markets. But they aren't made by Google itself. Instead, Google picks one of its Android hardware partners to make each year's Nexus models.

While the software firm works closely on the resulting product, it doesn't have the kind of full control -- even over this hero product -- that Apple has over the iPhone or Microsoft has over the Surface. I think it's time for Google to start making its own hardware, at least for smartphones, and at least for the Nexus line and for a class of low-priced phones aimed at developing markets. Yes, I know that Google briefly owned, and then sold, an entire phone manufacturer, Motorola. Yes, I know that Google has dabbled in hardware with products like the Chromecast and the Chromebook Pixel, and had to kill another internal hardware venture, a home media player called the Q. But it's perfectly possible for a company with Google's clout and resources to hire more hardware engineers and designers, create unique devices, and outsource its manufacturing.